Governor JB Pritzker was in Shawneetown Thursday afternoon along with state and local leaders to break ground on a new fertilizer distribution center at the Shawneetown Regional Port District along the Ohio River. Officials say the new terminal when complete will boost regional freight activity, create jobs, and reinvigorate economic opportunity in the region thanks to $12.6 million through the governor’s Rebuild Illinois capital program. Governor Pritzker called it an exciting new era for the Shawneetown Port, but also a return to the past.
Over 200 years ago, Shawneetown was the central hub of commerce in this state and region including where the first bank existed in the state of Illinois. At the middle of all that activity was the Shawneetown Port which was booming with goods heading to and from and on the Ohio River. Major rail and highways connected to the port facilitating the flow of millions of dollars in activity every single year.
He’d go on to say that in 2022, the state made a long overdue investment with a grant provided by the Department of Transportation.
And today, we’re partnering to build a $27 million dollar fertilizer offloading terminal right here at the Shawneetown Port.
The governor says the port will provide relief for farmers.
With prices skyrocketing, our agriculture industry needs relief. This project will cut costs for our farmers and help them feed the U.S. and the world from right here at this port. The revitalization of Shawneetown Port will lift up families across the region and keep the history and tradition here alive for generations to come.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Natalie Phelps Finnie fought getting emotional as the Eldorado native says she understands deeply what the people of the region have gone through.
Because I grew up just down the road in Eldorado and I live just a short distance from here. My children go and went to school here in Gallatin County and I have witnessed firsthand as a mother and as a healthcare practitioner the effects that poverty have had on so many families. Projects like this that will bring jobs and stability to Gallatin County are incredibly important to the people who live here. This may not be as big a deal somewhere else. This is a huge deal for the people of Gallatin County and this region of southern Illinois.
Patrick Scates, President of SGI River Terminals expressed his appreciation to the many he says brought the project to this point and says
he’s excited to get operations underway, hopefully in about 12 months.
We’re excited to get this facility finished and start shipping fertilizer hopefully in about a year. We’ll be moving fertilizer for farmers and regional retailers; most of the fertilizer leaving here, probably 75% of it will go straight to the field. We’ll have a high speed blending system and that’s going to save money for farmers. Lord knows they need it. As you know, our family has farmed for many years in Gallatin County and we look forward to operating this terminal for many years to serve area farmers.
We first hear about the project in 2022 when we sat down with Scates. Hear more at Interview with Patrick Scates of Scates Group Intermodal River Terminal – WRUL-FM
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing. In early 2024, Gallatin County Board member Warren Rollman took aim at State Senator Dale Fowler calling him a bedfellow of the Shawneetown Regional Port District and Scates Group Intermodal River Terminal. That set off a firestorm which came to a head at a Regional Port Authority public meeting.
Read more at (5) UNSEALED: Patrick… – Warren Rollman-Gallatin County Board member | Facebook
Read more at Dozens Show Up for Shawneetown Regional Port Authority Meeting – WRUL-FM
Funding from IDOT was awarded from $150 million Gov. Pritzker made available via Rebuild Illinois on a competitive basis to improve the state’s 19 public ports, the first time in state history a capital program invested in waterways. Projects were selected based on their potential to advance IDOT’s Illinois Marine Transportation System Plan, which prioritizes asset management performance-based decisions and benefits to disadvantaged or economically distressed areas.
Additionally, $400,000 from IDOT’s Illinois Competitive Freight Program is leveraging a total investment of nearly $10 million to build a new main entrance road, eliminating a bottleneck for trucks and making the Shawneetown port a more attractive option than Ohio River ports in Indiana and Kentucky.
Passed in 2019, Rebuild Illinois is investing a total $33.2 billion into the state’s aging transportation system over six years, creating jobs and promoting economic growth. Rebuild Illinois is not only the largest capital program in state history, but also the first one that touches all modes of Illinois transportation: roads and bridges, transit freight and passenger rail, aviation, and bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, in addition to waterways.